Seahawks Cowboys Line

Written by Steve Janus

The Dallas Cowboys will host the Seattle Seahawks in what many consider to be a must win game for Dallas. The Cowboys looked as bad as they have all season in a 7-34 loss at Philadelphia on Sunday Night Football. The loss dropped Dallas to 3-4 overall, leaving them in a three-way tie for 2nd in the NFC East. The Seahawks fell 12-34 at home to Cincinnati. To give you and idea of how bad the NFC West is outside of the 49ers, Seattle is second in the division with a 2-5 record.

Taking a look at the week 9 NFL lines, oddsmakers currently have the Cowboys favored by 11.5-points over the Seahawks with the total set at 44 points.

Seattle Seahawks:

While the final score of last week’s game against Cincinnati makes it look like the Seahawks had no chance to win, Seattle was down 12-20 with just 8:55 left in the fourth quarter. Cincinnati would end up scoring two touchdowns on a punt return and interception to make the game look a lot more lopsided.

The Seahawks actually outgained the Bengals 411 to 252 in total yards. Head coach Pete Carrol decided to start Charlie Whitehurst at quarterback, but he was pulled by the middle of the second quarter for Tarvaris Jackson. In just a little over two quarters, Jackson completed 21 of 40 for 323 yards.

What really hurt the Seahawks was their inability to effectively run the football. Leon Washington led the way with 34 yards on two carries, while starter Marshawn Lynch had just 24 yards on 16 attempts. Lynch did score the Seahawks only touchdown in the game, but that came on a two yard run.

With Jackson the clear starter against the Cowboys, it will be interesting to see how this team fairs against a Cowboys defense that was torched for 495 yards. It’s hard to imagine the Seahawks having much success running the ball against the Cowboy’s 4th ranked run defense, which means this team is going to have to rely on Jackson and the passing game to give them any chance to pull off the upset.

Dallas Cowboys:

The best thing the Cowboys can do is just forget about what happened last week against Philadelphia and make sure they give their best effort against the Seahawks on Sunday. There is no question that Dallas is the better team. The Cowboys are a lot better than their record indicates. Their four losses have came against the Jets, Lions, Patriots, and Eagles. Outside of the loss to Philadelphia, Dallas arguably should have won those other three games.

Tony Romo really struggled to get much of anything going against the Eagles secondary, finishing 18 of 35 for just 203 yards with an interception. Romo did throw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Laurent Robinson, but the Eagles were up 34-0 at that point.

What really killed the Cowboys is the fact that they fell behind 21-0 less than 20 minutes into the game. It kept the Cowboys from running the football, which is the one thing the Eagles have really struggled to stop this season. DeMarco Murray had 74 yards on just eight carries after rushing for 235 yards on 25 attempts against the Rams the previous week.

Despite their poor record, Seattle has actually played pretty well defensively this season. They are 11th against the run (102.9 ypg) and 18th against the pass (237.1 ypg). With the weapons the Cowboys have on offense they should be able to move the ball against the Seahawks, especially on their home turf.

Betting Trends:

Seattle is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games after scoring less than 15 points in their previous game, but are just 15-35-2 ATS in their last 52 road games.

Dallas is 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a S.U. loss, but are only 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games as a home favorite.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this week in the NFL.

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